Dulce Et Decorum Est
by Meep meep
Summary: In the aftermath of the Great War there is one person left of the armies. Draco Malfoy witnessed the death of all he held dear. Character death. Be warned it is upsetting.


_Disclaimer: I own only the plot. And the hut. I own that too. Anyhow, I earn no money from this but I still write it, mainly to feed the inquisitive mind of my readers._

_And since I'm being so nice, I expect_ FEEDBACK _people._

_A.N.: all you who have uneasy stomachs or are afraid of character death, please be sure you can handle what is being said, for it has the power to make avid fans cry. I'm sorry, but I didn't want those who can't handle flaming me for not telling them._

_I dedicate this story to Fizzy Cola Sugar High, who is one of my best friends, and the most avid of my readers. I have put all her favorite couple's in here, so enjoy it._

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Draco sat alone. Ever alone. The Great War had taken its toll on his youthful mind. Innocence shattered, along with those who had clung to its last lingering sparks even while the bony; ice cold fingers of reality reached out to them and gripped their impressionable minds.

Had the War truly been worth the effects it caused to the survivor?

Draco had seen things no adult could have dealt with – for before the war, Draco knew, he had still been a child. He longed for his child-like ideals to return – longed for the state of mind that told him his lover was not dead, that he would come back... one day. But Draco knew he would never come back. For Draco had stood in front of him when he died – watched how it had happened. The smile of triumph on his face as his nemesis fell dead at his feet, even whilst the horror of murder shone in his eyes. The heart rendering scream that tore from his mouth as Narcissa Malfoy cast the fatal curse to steal his life. In a last bid to save the man he loved, Draco had murdered the woman that birthed him – from behind. But he was two seconds too late. Even as the life was squeezed from Narcissa, his essence was being cast to the Otherworld.

Draco had seen his own father, under the influence of Imperius murder Severus Snape. Then, seeing what he had done, turn his wand upon himself and use the self-same curse on himself, in an attempt to join his lover on the paths of the Otherworld.

He had seen Blaise hold Neville's head in his lap to comfort him in his last moments. And as the blood stopped flowing from Neville's wound Blaise moved himself into the way of an oncoming attack, letting himself die, to fall draped across his friend and lover's cold, lifeless body.

He had even seen a Death Eater remove his mask to Ginny Weasley, after smashing her leg. Ginny cast her last curse on him and held her head high as Percy Weasley's body fell to cover that of Bill who had died protecting her from the most murderous of her brothers.

He had witnessed Pansy and Millicent rush to Ginny's aid as they carried her to salvation from the battlefield. All three were killed with one curse on the steps of the Healer's hut.

Draco had experienced Sirius and Remus die in each others arms, killed by the vengeance-blinded hands of Bellatrix Lestrange who, in her attempt to gain the Dark Lord's favor, had murdered her own cousin.

He saw Seamus fling himself to his death to save the girl he loved. Who was then hit from behind, he had died in vain.

And as Draco lay himself, the sole survivor, down beside his lover's body taking the Dark Lords wand from by his feet and turning it to point in his face he knew this was the end. And yet now, unlike before, he did not fear.

To those that lived I'm a coward

To those that died I am brave

To those that lost I'm a fool

To those that conquered I am wise

To those that remain unscathed I'm nameless

To those that suffered I am a martyr

To those that are blind I'm helpless

To those that see I am hopeless

To those that demand vengeance I'm an imbecile, but

To those that seek nothing I am merely a human.

_Harry my love did you wait for me?_

Poppies grow on the graves of those 

Who truly understand

And on this spot, in years to come

Shall be relatives of those that died on this land.

And on this day, though silence reigns

None shall steady War's great hand

Dulce Et Decorum Est

None live to reprimand.


End file.
